After Sales Follow-Up Tips

After Sales Customer Follow-Up Tips

What do you do after your customer has purchased your product or service? Are missing out on future sales because you are not communicating with your customers and clients?

It’s easy to turn these first time buyers into future customers with a little follow-up. Sending out a letter may seem simple, but it can do a lot to bring customers back and get those customers to refer you to new ones.

Most experts recommend at least a 10-10-10 pattern when following up with a customer. Send out your first letter within 10 days. In another 10 days, contact them again. Then in 10 days contact the customer again. If you send a snail mail letter for the first contact, you could use email or telephone for the following two.

Always have an offer or some other incentive that is time sensitive included in your letter. This creates a sense of urgency. It will get people to contact you because they don’t want to miss out. Use the same offer through all 3 letters with the wording becoming more urgent in each one.

The 10-10-10 method is also recommended for people who are inquiring about your products and services. Statistics bear out that all kinds of companies, who don’t get back to people making inquiries, lose a customer. These customers tell other people about the bad service and businesses lose even more potential customers. It seems most businesses do not understand how important this is. It is a great way to make future sales and it also shows that you care about not only your customers, but your potential customers.

So what exactly should you put in your letter? Here are a few things that can be put into the first follow-up letter. The second and third contacts should contain the same information written in a fresh way.

1) A thank you; a heartfelt thank you for choosing your company for their purchase. A little appreciation goes a long way. You don’t have to gush, just state your thanks simply and to the point.

“Thank you for allowing us the opportunity of providing a great product to you. I am confident that you will be happy with your purchase and I appreciate your business.”

2) A re-enforcement of why choosing your company was a great idea in the first place. This will cut down on “buyer’s remorse”. Help them to feel their purchase was necessary and buying from you was the only way to go.

3) A time limited offer. Offer them something to complement their original purchase. In the case of a customer who has already purchased your product or service, you could offer them a limited time offer on another one of your products or for your service in the future. Develop a sense of urgency so the customer acts within the “limited time”.

Each time you contact the customer, enhance the sense of urgency. The second contact should build on the urgency of the first and so on. The third time you contact them you can even say something like “Only 3 days left to take advantage of this great offer.”

4) Refer them to another product or service (not that of a competitor) that would complement their purchase. Suggesting other products shows them you not only care they bought from you, but that they are happy with their purchase. This could be an offering from an affiliate program you belong to so that you can still make money.

5) Ask for referrals. A simple “If you like our service tell others, if you didn’t tell us!” might be enough. You can offer a percentage off their next purchase for referring a new customer or a special offer for those they refer.

6) You should include a coupon for your services. You could encourage them to pass it on if they are not going to use it themselves. They may know someone who needs your services and this could mean the difference between their friend purchasing or not.

7) Attach a business card to the letter. This gives the customer something to give to someone else when they tell them about your company. You never know how many times that little card can get passed along.

8) Another option is to send a survey or customer feedback form. Again, offer some incentive to fill it out. It will give you both the bad and the good of the customer’s experience with your company. This will give you information to use in your next contact letter.

Contact your customers. Make them loyal customers who keep coming back for more and bring new customers with them.

Drs. Christiaan Janssens MBA

Executive Coach CJ Coaching

CRO Akwa Wellness

Finding a Job in Customer Service: Skills and Experience

Skills and Experience for Finding a Job in Customer Service

With the growth of social networks and internet connectivity, customer service has never been more important for some of the world's largest companies. Now that everyone is a publisher and can find products and services for his friends and followers, brands have to make more effort to let their customers enjoy on and offline. Jobs in customer service can be very diverse, from call center representatives to executive customer service consultants. This article is all about how to increase your chances of landing that role in customer services.

Communication

Excellent communication skills are needed for most customer service roles. Call centre operatives require good verbal communication skills in order to be heard and understood, as do customer service representatives who communicate with customers in person. Those dealing with emails, social media or other written enquiries require excellent writing skills.

People Skills

One of the most important skills you can possess, and demonstrate to a potential employer, is people skills. It doesn’t come naturally to everybody. Other customer-facing roles will help support a job application, but appearing friendly and communicating well in interview is a key way in which employers can tell if you’re really a “people person” or not.

Patience and Empathy

When products or services go wrong, customer can feel l let down, poorly serviced or just plain cheated, so customer service representatives often have to bare the brunt of these customers’ complaints. Arguing or being dismissive is only likely to make the situation worse, so it’s important that customer service people can empathise with even the most unreasonable of customers. Regardless of their language, rudeness or arrogance, customer service representatives need to do everything in their power to please them.

Initiative

In customer service management, there are often set processes to handle certain types of communication. Social media customer service representatives might even have response maps which help them to respond quickly to messages and mentions without seeking the approval of their superiors. While sometimes this guidance can be provided, customer service representatives need to get used to showing initiative and dealing with requests themselves.
Of course, initiative means responsibility, and it can backfire, but it’s impossible for managers to train representatives in what to do in every conceivable situation.

Organisation and Multi-Tasking

Like almost any professional role, jobs in customer service will usually require excellent organisation skills, and employers will often ask for evidence of multi-tasking in previous job roles. Teamwork is also an important skill to possess as often customer service teams will need to pull together to manage customer enquiries effectively.


Drs. Christiaan Janssens MBA
Executive Coach CJ Coaching
CRO Akwa Wellness

Customer complaints department

Christiaan Janssens
Executive Coach
CRO @ Spa Akwa Belgium